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Connect the World

CNN International: Milton Could be a Historic Storm for Tampa Bay; Hezbollah Official Endorses Lebanon Ceasefire Effort; Presidential Election is Four Weeks Away, Both Candidates Make Final Sprint; CoreLogic: Helene Caused up to $30B of Uninsured Flood Loses; Kansas City Chiefs Dominate Saints to Improve to 5-0. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired October 08, 2024 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNNI HOST: You're watching "Connect the World". It's 09:00 a.m. here in New York. I'm Omar Jimenez. Mass evacuation is underway as

Florida braces for hurricane Milton. We'll have a full report this hour tracking the massive storm's progress.

Meanwhile, intense fighting in the Middle East, after a day of mourning where Israel marked one year since the deadly October 7th attacks. And U.S.

presidential candidates out in force, how Harris and Trump are looking to grab headlines with less than a month left before election day.

Historic, unprecedented and potentially catastrophic. Those are the words being used to describe hurricane Milton now bearing down on Florida's West

Coast, at least very soon. Milton is forecast to make landfall late Wednesday as a major hurricane. The storm dropped a category 4 intensity

overnight.

Again, the key word there is dropped because it could build back up to a category 5 later today, after earlier reaching speeds of 180 miles per

hour, or 290 kilometers per hour. Now, as residents prepare mandatory evacuation orders are in effect for nine counties, including the Tampa

area.

And the mayor's message, get out or you're going to die. Michael Brennan is the Director of the National Hurricane Center, and last hour on CNN, he

talked about the expanding warning area as the hurricane approaches.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BRENNAN, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: We have storm surge warnings in effect with the potential for 10 to 15 feet of inundation above

ground level for much of the Tampa Bay region, down to Sarasota. So that's where those evacuations are ongoing there.

We just expanded hurricane warnings across the peninsula now all the way over to the East Coast, including the Metro Orlando area, the Melbourne

area, all the way up to places like St. Augustine, Ocala, now under hurricane warnings Daytona Beach. So, we're going to see a substantial wind

event across much of the Florida peninsula, potential for widespread power outages, wind damage.

Also, the potential for life threatening flash flooding with up to 18 inches of rain, especially along and just north of the track. So that,

again, puts that I-4 corridor and areas of North Florida in play for that hazard as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And CNN's Carlos Suarez is in Fort Myers, which is in the region. It's a part of the Florida coast that was hit hard by a category 4 storm

two years ago, and it's in the crosshairs once again.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, for the folks that live in Fort Myers, Florida in Lee County, the biggest concern for them is going to be

the 6-to-10-foot storm surge associated with the hurricane. Now, just two years ago, this part of Southwest Florida, Lee County, was devastated.

Was a good part of it was destroyed by hurricane Ian. And so, the folks out here have been getting ready. Essentially, what you're looking at is some

of the preps underway. But to give you a sense of where the water got, about two years ago, hurricane Ian brought a storm surge about -- probably

about to hear. So, the expectation is that the water that will be associated with the storm is probably going to be at this level, if not

slightly above.

And so, the businesses here in downtown, Fort Myers, are all getting ready for this hurricane now to the north of where we are, the preparations, the

evacuation orders there, went into effect and began in earnest yesterday, over in Sarasota County, Manatee County, Hillsborough County and Pinellas

County.

The folks there began moving inland yesterday, traffic cameras really showed just the number of folks that were taken to the roads trying to get

to Northern Florida, Central Florida. Folks are trying to get over across to the east coast in South Florida. In fact, on our drive in from Miami

here to Fort Myers, the traffic really did not let up across Alligator Alley, which connects both coasts of the State of Florida.

And so, the line of cars really was from Naples, Florida on the West Coast, all the way into Broward County on the east coast of Florida. One of the

biggest concerns going into this storm is the debris that was left over by hurricane Helene, which hit about just two weeks ago.

We were in the Tampa area just last week doing a story on some of the damage there. And emergency officials really have been concerned about the

fact that in Pinellas County and in Hillsborough County, there just has not been enough time to get all of that debris out.

And of course, those folks there are expected to get a more direct hit by hurricane Milton, if that forecast track holds. And so, if you've got all

of that debris laying out -- laying around in neighborhoods, it becomes a safety concern for the tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of folks

that have been ordered to leave their homes and for the folks that stayed behind.

The last thing they want to deal, of course, is all of that debris, which, again, has yet to be picked up. And you can only imagine what the damage

that could cause in a hurricane with these kinds of winds.

JIMENEZ: That's Carlos Suarez reporting. As you mentioned, many in the area are dealing with these potential threats less than two weeks after

hurricane Helene came through.

[09:05:00]

And in a wide swath right across Florida, people are preparing for the worst, and authorities are warning this is not the time to take chances.

Brian Todd explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Pinellas Park, Florida, just across the bay from Tampa, residents use large pails to fill as many

sandbags as they can. Hurricane Milton, which has already exploded into a category 5 storm, could hit the Tampa Bay area directly. It would be the

first major hurricane to strike within 50 miles of Tampa in more than 100 years.

Some residents in at least six counties told to evacuate. In Hillsborough County, the evacuation order is mandatory in some places, that means

authorities cannot force people from their homes, but --

JASON DOUGHERTY, CHIEF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: If you remain there, you could die. My men and women could die trying to rescue you.

TODD (voice-over): What makes this especially dangerous in places like Tampa and Fort Myers is that those cities are still recovering from

hurricane Helene, which has killed more than 230 people in six states with the death toll still rising for those in the mandatory evacuation zones who

decide to stay put, Florida officials have a dire warning.

ASHLEY MOODY, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: You probably need to write your name and permanent marker on your arm, so that people know who you are when

they get to you afterwards. And we are still seeing as we're uncovering folks on the beach who thought they could stay there and the storm surge

got them.

TODD (voice-over): With Milton forecast to make landfall late Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis warns the window for evacuation is closing fast.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): You have time to execute your plan, but you got to do it now. Time is going to start running out very, very soon.

TODD (voice-over): Helene made landfall as a category 4 hurricane that caused widespread damage, leaving tons of debris that still hasn't been

cleared, debris that residents worry could still harm people if it starts flying around when Milton hits.

KARMEN FORRESTER, BARTENDER IN FORT MYERS BEACH: The debris on the beach, and whatever's going on is a little cause for concern, because there is not

enough time and not enough manpower to take everything and put it where it needs to be, off the island.

TODD (voice-over): The international airports in Tampa and Orlando closing ahead of the storm. Tolls are being suspended on major highways throughout

Western and Central Florida to help those evacuating. Governor DeSantis says the assets that Florida lent to North Carolina for hurricane Helene

have had to be brought back to Florida.

But North Carolina is still dealing with the horrific aftermath of Helene. More than 100,000 customers are still without power there, and around

Asheville, dozens of people are still missing. A week and a half after Helene tore through the area.

GOV. ROY COOPER (D-NC): We're still working to reach communities. We still have search and rescue occurring as we speak.

TODD (voice-over): And even as Florida braces for hurricane Milton, were getting daunting numbers on the property damage from hurricane Helene.

According to the data analytics firm core logic, Helene caused up to $47.5 billion in losses for property owners, much of that flood damage to

residents who don't have flood insurance. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: And we've got Derek Van Dam at the CNN Weather Center tracking hurricane Milton. I mean, Derek, meteorologists are describing this

hurricane in terms that you rarely ever hear for storms, much less storms this size. What are you seeing on your end here?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, what it did yesterday when it increased in speed by 130 miles per hour. And just about 30 hours, that was

jaw dropping for so many of us in this meteorology field. What we're looking at now is likely another strengthening session with this hurricane,

because we're starting to see the eyes clear out in the center.

You can actually see it kind of closed in, went through an eye wall replacement cycle. That's noted on the latest update from the National

Hurricane Center. We've got that kind of dreaded north easterly shift that's going to bring it on that inevitable path into the West Coast of the

Florida peninsula.

This is new just within the past hour, we now have hurricane warnings that stretch from the Gulf Coast of Florida to the Atlantic Coast. And there's

also tropical storm warnings, including Miami and key west. So those have been newly hoisted by the National Hurricane Center.

But let's talk about the trajectory of hurricane Milton, and if I can use an analogy, unlike Helene from two weeks ago, that ran parallel with the

coast, it was almost as if it was a sideswipe from a sedan. This storm is going to approach the Florida West Coast in a more perpendicular approach.

So that would be more like a T bone of an SUV, right, maximizing the energy potential. I'm using that as an extreme example, but that's what's on -- in

the cards for us, because the wind field will be expanding. That means impacts will be felt well away from the center, but it's also going to push

up the storm surge we know about that.

That right Eastern quadrant that will be the most pertinent and most powerful place for storm surge, but the catastrophic winds at some stage,

this is incredible. On Thursday morning, we believe landfall late Wednesday night, early Thursday morning, there could be a period of time where the

entire central peninsula of Florida experiences hurricane force winds. That is amazing.

[09:10:00]

So not only will we see the destruction along the coast, but it will stretch far inland. And then when we talk about storm surge values 3.5

meters, we're talking well over double my height, and this is just going to be a hugely impactful storm. The other threat, tornadoes. We've got water

spout potentials starting tomorrow, and then the flash flood threat as well.

This is a rare issuance of high risk of extreme rainfall that could lead to flash flooding on Wednesday, and that will likely be continued into

Thursday, as well as the brunt of the storm finally makes landfall. And Omar, I'm going to leave you with this. Here's a satellite view of Milton

when it was at its strongest yesterday.

And then we're going to broaden the view out to what's happening over the Western U.S. wildfires and extreme heat. This is the fingerprints of

climate change with a rapidly strengthening hurricane and wildfires out west --

JIMENEZ: The rapid intensification of this is truly unbelievable. And it would be a devastating storm if this was the only storm Florida was facing

this season. But, of course, comes on the heels of Helene less than two weeks ago. Derek Van Dam, really appreciate it.

All right, we're also we're going to continue to follow that hurricane news. But elsewhere in the world, the conflict in the Middle East is

growing as this latest iteration enters its second year. The Israeli military says it's expanded its operations against Hezbollah into Southwest

Lebanon.

The IDF says it killed a Hezbollah commander around Beirut Monday, though that hasn't been confirmed. Hezbollah firing a fresh barrage of rockets

toward Northern Israel. Meanwhile, the Israeli military says it's still operating in central Gaza a day after a strike killed 30 people in a

refugee camp there.

So as the fighting ramps up, a Hezbollah official, for the first time, appears to be endorsing ceasefire talks. We have Jomana Karadsheh in

Beirut. So, Jomana, just give us a sense of the scene where you are. But also -- let's start there. Just give us a sense of the scene of where you

are right now.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Omar, I don't know if you can hear as we're speaking right now, this constant buzzing that we're hearing.

That's the sound of Israeli drones overhead. They have been flying over the southern suburbs of Beirut for the past couple of weeks right now.

And this loud buzzing noise has really become something that the residents of Beirut hear every single day and every single night, pretty much

constantly, and that's usually an indication to many that airstrikes are coming. And we've seen several airstrikes on the southern suburbs now, this

is an area where you have a heavy presence of Hezbollah.

But also, it is neighborhoods, many, many neighborhoods in this densely populated part of the capital where you have pretty much a different, very

diverse group of people living in there, hundreds of thousands of people who live there. And we've seen a mass exodus when the Israeli military

operations intensified there, but you still have civilians there.

And you know, Omar, what we've been seeing is sometimes the Israeli military does put out warnings, does tell people that airstrikes are

coming, but those tend to come in really late at night, when people are not really glued to their phones and social media to know that these warnings

are out.

Some people return to the southern suburbs during the day to pick up their belongings that they had to leave behind in a rush when they evacuated the

area, and you suddenly have these air strikes. So, it is very troubling for so many civilians in this city, but a very dire situation is continuing to

unfold in Southern Lebanon.

That is, of course, where the Israeli military operations are really focused, whether it is the airstrikes, the shelling, the fighting, what the

Israeli military is describing as this limited ground incursion that began last week, where our sources are telling us what has been happening is

these sporadic raids across the border.

But Omar, I want to share with viewers this drone video that has emerged, and it shows the village of Yaroun. This is a village that is right on the

border with Israel. And you can see the scale of the destruction there, and for so many people, this is absolutely terrifying.

So many people see this as their worst fear come true when they're seeing this one village, the devastation in one of so many villages that have been

caught up in this war. And they look at this and they say that they fear that their country, their villages, their towns, are being turned into

another Gaza, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Jomana Karadsheh, I really appreciate the reporting. And this comes as Hezbollah is now supporting efforts by Lebanon's Parliament

Speaker at achieving a ceasefire with Israel.

[09:15:00]

The group's deputy secretary general said on Tuesday, this was the first time the group has publicly endorsed negotiations since the war started.

Hezbollah previously said it would only stop firing at Israel once a ceasefire is reached with Hamas in Gaza. Israel, however, has insisted that

Hezbollah's that the conflict there is separate from the ongoing war with Hamas.

And thank you to Jomana for her reporting on the ground there. We are now a year into the war in Gaza and Israeli military operations there continue to

ramp up. Hamas is yet to be defeated, and instead, civilians are paying the price through it all. The war has decimated education and health systems in

the enclave and left more than 41,000 people dead, more than a third of whom are children.

Now, those figures do not include those missing or still buried under rubble. Nada Bashir has more. But we warn you, this report contains graphic

and disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Where is the world? Look at this, this man shouts. Beside him two young boys wounded in an Israeli

strike, left bleeding out on the cold tiles of the hospital floor. A scene of chaos and anguish that has played out day after day in Gaza now for an

entire year.

These are all civilians, this father says. Look at this child. Does he look like a fighter to you? Across the ward, this little girl is left shaking

and calling out for her parents. Outside another unbearably familiar scene, the body of a limp child being rushed into the already overrun hospital.

This little girl is three-year-old, Hanan. She was pulled from the rubble of her now destroyed home in central Gaza. Her injuries are so severe that

we've had to blur part of this footage. Against all odds, doctors were able to save Hanan's life, but they had no choice but to amputate both her legs.

Hanan's one year old sister Misk was also severely injured. Like her sister and so many other children in Gaza, she too has had to undergo an

amputation. Both now robbed of their ability to play like they used to, and in many ways, their innocence too. Mama, she calls out. Misk is too young

to know that her mother Seba has been killed.

Relatives say it's unclear whether their father, who is still in intensive care will survive. I don't know how Hanan will continue with her life,

without legs, without her mother, with all the pain that she has suffered, Hanan's aunt says. In the ruin of what once was Hanan and Misk's home,

survivors comb through bloody debris.

Gathering fragments of flesh and bone with their bare hands. Many were killed and injured in the blast -- says. The majority of them were women

and children. The whole place has been destroyed. In just one year, more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed.

Among them, over 16,000 children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the data is staggering, and has even led the U.N.'s chief to

describe Gaza as a graveyard for children. As famine now advances across Gaza. The U.N. has warned that more than 8000 children have already been

diagnosed and treated for acute malnutrition.

Medical supplies are also scarce, posing a huge challenge to doctors operating under the most difficult of circumstances. With thousands of

children injured and having to undergo amputations, in some cases, even without anesthesia. The reality on the ground is hard to ignore.

And yet, a year on, the people of Gaza are still begging for the world to take notice and to take action. But for Gaza's children, an entire

generation has already been lost to the brutality of a war they had no part in. Nada Bashir, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

JIMENEZ: For weeks, Kamala Harris has been criticized for not doing enough interviews, but this week, she's on a media blitz, hoping to reach large

numbers of voters ahead of Election Day. She did Alex Cooper's popular podcast "Call Her Daddy" live on Sunday with a focus on women's

reproductive rights.

I should say it came out on Sunday, then her wide ranging 60 minutes interview aired on Monday night. Today, she'll appear on the view "The

Howard Stern Show" and "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert". Running mate Tim Walz is also making the media rounds, appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Monday

night.

So, let's bring in Washington Correspondent Priscilla Alvarez. So, Priscilla, I mean, it looks like it's going to be a busy Tuesday for

Harris, big back-to-back interviews. What is behind this recent push that we're seeing here?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, the Vice President's advisors know that we are now in the final stretch of the presidential election, the

needle hasn't moved all that much in the polls. Some polls, she has a slight edge when up against for President Donald Trump. Other times, she

doesn't. And a lot of what they see in polls as well is that voters are still trying to get to know her more.

And so, this is a media blitz timed in part because we're in the final stretch, also because early voting is already underway in some states. So,

as you mentioned, she already has had a couple of interviews this week, also targeting different audiences, for example, that "Call Her Daddy"

podcast, millions of listeners, mostly young women. So, the focus there very much on reproductive rights and amplifying her message.

There 60 minutes a wide-ranging interview where she talked about multiple issues, including, for example, immigration and foreign policy. And now

today, on the view, she's going to use that platform to announce a new proposal to try to assist with the long-term care needs of senior citizens,

especially appealing to what we call the sandwich generation, those adults who are caring for both children as well as their aging parents.

And so, we expect to hear more about how she intends for this to look and how it's going to be paid for. And perhaps some of her own personal story,

because the vice president has also previously talked about how she took care of her aging mother. And then again, as you mentioned, "The Howard

Stern Show", a mostly male audience, and that is an area where the campaign is trying to make more inroads.

And then later "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert, and later in the week, a Univision town hall. So, what you see when you look at it altogether, is

a campaign that's trying to reach multiple different audiences to increase the exposure of the vice president and her vice-presidential pick, Tim

Walz, to try to get their message out and try to reach people, as strategists often say where they are.

Now, of course, the vice president has been getting some heat for not doing enough media appearances before, perhaps to some hard-hitting media

appearances, but the campaign says that this is ultimately a strategy that they see to drive out turnout when we're at a point where voters are

starting to think more seriously about the election and starting to pay attention more now than perhaps, they did a few months ago, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, under a month to Election Day messaging to try and get these last groups of voters to get people and break this sort of pull tie that we

have seen for the most part over the past few months, is going to be critical. Priscilla Alvarez, really appreciate it. Now throughout this

campaign, Donald Trump has been banking on immigration as a winning issue.

[09:25:00]

He accuses the Biden Administration of letting criminals into the country stoking fear with the phrase quote, migrant crime and false rumors and

unverified claims about Haitians in Ohio. Now the former president is suggesting bad intentions are in the migrants' genes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How about allowing people to come to an open border, 13,000 of which were

murderers, many of them murdered far more than one person, and they're now happily living in the United States. You know now a murderer, I believe

this, it's in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: CNN's Alayna Treene has more on this from Washington. So, Alayna a lot to unpack there, but these comments were made on a conservative radio

show. What was the context here?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: I mean, I think the context is that this is Donald Trump using a very well-worn playbook. Remember, this isn't the

first time he has used dehumanizing and disparaging language to talk about migrants. You mentioned him you know, his rhetoric regarding the Haitian

migrants in Springfield, Ohio, about eating pets.

Claims we know just are not true and have been said by Republican officials on the ground that are not true. Last year, he referred to migrants as

poisoning the blood of the country. Anti-Semitic rhetoric that we know Nazis used to describe Jewish people around the Holocaust.

He said a lot of similar things. I mean, this is taking it to a different level, arguing that perhaps immigrants have bad genes in them. But I think

the context of this is that this is rhetoric that Donald Trump has used repeatedly in the past. While this distinct comment may be new.

The overall strategy is not Donald Trump really does use fear mongering and tries to stoke fears with voters about immigrants. It's something he did

successfully in the lead up to the 2016 election. And he has continued to do repeatedly on the campaign trail this cycle.

And I will remind you as well, Omar, that despite a lot of these claims just being untrue, unsubstantiated, receiving a ton of backlash and

stirring up a lot of controversy, Donald Trump continues to lead on the issue of immigration, when compared to Kamala Harris.

And his campaign views immigration as one of, if not the, top issue for them ahead of the November 5th election. And so that's where a lot of this

is coming into now, I think one very clear thing to point out here is that also how Donald Trump generalizes the immigrant community.

We know that repeatedly on the trail, he also tries to talk about immigrants creating or conducting violent crimes, and he tries to

generalize the entire immigrant population at times by saying that particularly immigrants who are here, who are undocumented in this country.

But in many ways, I will argue from the rallies I have been to, a lot of Donald Trump supporters and Republicans on the ground say that immigration

is their number one issue. Whether they're in a border state or not. A lot of these people could be in Wisconsin or Michigan.

They tell me immigration is a number one issue, and they do believe what Donald Trump is saying. So, I think at the end of the day, we know that a

lot of this is just not true. We know that this is dehumanizing language, that he makes a lot of unsubstantiated claims when it comes to immigrants.

But there's a lot of voters who do believe him, and they his campaign does believe that this is, in some ways a winning strategy as they look ahead to

November.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, and you know, it's tied into, you know, even public safety concerns. And we should mention that some of those numbers he was citing in

that sound bite, was really referring to migrants who have come, not all under legal premises --

TREENE: Right.

JIMENEZ: -- over multiple administrations, not just during the Biden-Harris Administration. And some of them are actually in -- could be in custody as

well.

TREENE: Right.

JIMENEZ: So, Alayna Treene in Washington, really appreciate it. All right. Still to come, Florida braces for its second hurricane in less than two

weeks. We're getting a fresh look at just how much these storms could cost property owners and spoiler, it's a lot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

JIMENEZ: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York, and you're watching "Connect the World". Hurricane Milton is barreling toward Florida.

And due to make landfall on Wednesday, forecasters say it could be one of the most destructive hurricanes ever to hit West Central Florida.

The state is facing its second hurricane as well in less than two weeks. Officials are warning people to expect several hours of congestion. You can

see some of the traffic trying to get out of town there when as they've pushed to get out of the area, hundreds of thousands have been told to

leave their homes. Evacuation orders in cities like Treasure Island, Florida, as local officials prepare for the worst-case scenario.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYLER PAYNE, TREASURE ISLAND MAYOR: That potential direct hit could be even more dangerous than what we just went through.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm praying that God will give everybody the wisdom to get out and to remember that it's only stuff and it can be replaced.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: The U.S. Disaster Agency's Administrator Deanne Criswell, spoke to CNN's Kate Bolduan earlier about preparations already underway for

hurricane Milton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEANNE CRISWELL, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: I think the first thing is we have dealt with multiple significant events before, if we think back to 2017

with Harvey, Irma, Maria or even 2020 where every state had a disaster declaration, and then we had significant hurricanes and wildfire season.

So, we are prepared for this. We plan for this. I'm not saying it's not going to be a challenge, but I know that we are going to be able to meet

everybody's immediate needs as hurricane Milton comes in.

We're pre-positioning resources like search and rescue teams, health care assessment teams, the Army Corps of Engineers for power assessment and

generator support and a lot of different resources to meet the immediate needs for the people in Florida, while also sustaining everything that

we're doing, not just here in North Carolina, but all of the states that were impacted by Helene.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So as FEMA says, it has enough money to deal with the fallout from hurricanes Helene and Milton, we are getting a fresh look at just how much

these storms could cost property owners. Matt Egan joins us live now. So, look data analytics firm CoreLogic, has released these new estimates. I

mean, what could he lean end up costing property owners?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Omar, just staggering amounts of money, just massive damage caused by hurricane Helene, because we're talking about

torrential rain, devastating landslides and biblical flooding, and some people are going to be financially wrecked by that storm, even as this next

one is on its way.

Now, CoreLogic finds that hurricane Helene caused an estimated $30 billion to $47 billion in losses, and that's across 16 states. Now these are

modeled losses. So, they could go even higher as the full scale of the destruction becomes clear, particularly in really hard-hit areas like

Western North Carolina.

Now what's really important here is to understand that a lot of the people in the path of Helene, they did not have insurance, and so CoreLogic

estimates that insured losses could be up to $17.5 billion now that's massive, but it's totally dwarfed by up to $30 billion of uninsured flood

losses.

[09:35:00]

And listen some homeowners and some business owners who did not have insurance, they could really unfortunately be out of luck. Some of them may

lose their businesses. They may foreclose upon their homes. And all of this really does spotlight this problem, this gap between who has flood

insurance and who needs it, right?

Because, despite record warm temperatures in the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico, homeowners often are not required to have flood insurance, and

that, of course, is a major problem. I mean, homeowners' insurance typically does not cover flood damage, right? It will cover fire and

lightning and hail, but not floods.

Flood insurance has to be purchased separately, often through FEMA. And you're only required to have flood insurance if you A, have a federally

backed mortgage and B, if your home is located in a 100-year flood zone. Of course, the problem is that, given the climate crisis, given all this

extreme weather, almost nowhere is safe right now, Omar from this kind of extreme flooding.

JIMENEZ: Well, and what will hurricane Milton also mean for flood damage costs?

EGAN: Yeah, listen, Omar, it's easy to see how Milton could cause severe flooding damage as well. New forecasters warn that there is an extremely

high risk for flooding over the next three days. The forecasters say that Orlando could get two months' worth of rain just over the next few days,

Tampa could get five months of rain in just the span of a few days.

I mean, think about that. Now, thankfully, a lot of people in Florida do have some flood insurance, but the problem there is that the rates for

flood insurance have skyrocketed in recent years. Some people who did have flood insurance, they no longer do, because some of the carriers have

actually dropped their customers because of all of the hurricanes that, that area has experienced in the last few years.

So unfortunately, Omar, we could be looking at another situation where there's billions of dollars of flood damage and some people may not have

the insurance to help them.

JIMENEZ: It will be interesting to see if these insurance providers evolve over the next few years, given the pace and severity of these storms that

we've seen. Matt Egan, thank you so much.

EGAN: Thanks so much.

JIMENEZ: Now with another hurricane bearing down on Florida, the response to hurricane Helene has become a political campaign issue, meaning a White

House official tells CNN that Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis refused to return calls from Vice President Harris in the wake of Helene's

landfall on Florida's coast.

The Democratic presidential candidate calls it political gamesmanship. The Florida Governor says Harris has no role in the crisis and calls her

selfish. Listen to what he told Fox News Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESANTIS: I've had storms under both President Trump and President Biden, and I've worked well with both of them. She's the first one who's trying to

politicize the storm, and she's doing that just because of her campaign. She's trying to get some type of an edge. She knows she's doing poorly, and

so she's playing these political games. I don't have time for political games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now Florida Governor says he is in contact with the President and the FEMA Director. Still to come, Taylor Swift went to support Travis Kelce

last night, as she does. It might have brought some good luck to the game plan. We'll tell you about the chief's victory after the break.

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[09:40:00]

JIMENEZ: Monday night was the sports night of dreams for fans in Kansas City. I mean, since the chiefs and the Royals both had big games. And NFL,

the chiefs maintained their undefeated season and beat up on the saints, which, as a Falcons fan, will always make me happy, but also must have made

Taylor Swift happy too.

Her boyfriend and chiefs tight end Travis Kelce played pretty well, I would say. Andy Scholes joins me now. It was a very good night for the chiefs.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and you had all those chiefs' fans at arrowhead, right? Omar, really working on that Wi Fi, hopefully,

was working well. They had their phones up watching the Royals at the same time you getting some big cheers whenever the Royals scored some runs.

But, you know, happy for those fans, right? Because they got to win. They got to go 2 and 0 a lot of times in sports. You know, Omar this, those

kinds of nights can go poorly all around but the chiefs 5 and 0, them in the Vikings, the only two teams left in the NFL that are undefeated right

now. You know, we'll show you how it all went down coming up here on "World Sport".

JIMENEZ: It's a great feeling to be undefeated. Thanks, Andy. Andy will be back with "World Sport" after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORT)

[09:00:00]

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